Arthur leads a blindfolded Tick to the rooftop where Batmanuel, Janet, and a one-year anniversary cake are waiting. When the other two heroes leap out and yell “Surprise!”, Tick knocks Batmanuel over into the cake. He removes the blindfold and apologizes, saying that he thought that they were being ambushed. Arthur reminds Tick that they first met one year ago and fought Apocalypse Cow.
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Tick takes Arthur to the hospital after Arthur is burned by the villainous Cow. As he lies in his hospital bed, Arthur realizes that it all happened. He discovers that he’s in his apartment, and that Tick is in his living room taking notes on atomic bombs and seeing what crime fighting equipment Arthur has. Tick has torn up the place, going through Arthur’s private files, and Arthur admits that he’s anal-retentive.
Arthur warns Tick that he’s not ready for things moving so fast. Tick says that he wasn’t ready for a sidekick, and Arthur says that he’s not Tick’s sidekick. His new friend senses resistance, and Arthur points out that he quit his job and is now fighting a giant fire-breathing cow. He explains about Metcalf and wonders who Tick is, and Tick assures him that he is Arthur, once Arthur accepts who he really is. Arthur points out that he doesn’t understand, but Tick says that he’s heard of fear and it’s no good. He tells Arthur to let out his love for his fellow men, and Arthur quickly leaves... with Tick behind him.
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Tick figures that’s when Arthur decided that they were a team. Arthur notes that he hadn’t decided anything then, and Tick points out that was the day they all met and became one big happy family. Batmanuel points out that Janet hated Tick.
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At the Panda, Batmanuel asks Janet again for her answer: can she drive him to the mechanic to pick up his Batmanuelmobile. Janet says that she’ll do it when she’s done and writes up her report about the Apocalypse Cow fight. She’s been unable to find out anything about Tick, Batmanuel is more concerned about his car, but Janet is unhappy that Tick ruined everything. Tick and Arthur arrive, and Tick says that they need an archenemy within easy commuting distance.
Tick greets Janet and Batmanuel, taking Batmanuel’s seat, and asks for their help finding a nemesis. Janet is angry that he plans to roll into town and clean up their mess, and brings up a real supervillain for him to fight.
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Janet insists that she didn’t hate Tick, she just didn’t know him and was a bit jealous. She just wanted to kill him.
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Janet finally finds a supervillain for Tick to fight: the Terror. Batmanuel tells her not to joke, but Janet insists that it’s no joke and Terror is the biggest villain of the 20th century. She gives Tick Terror’s private phone number, and Arthur overhears them and hastily yanks the paper away. He warns that Terror is the worst archenemy in history, obliterating superheroes for decades. He tells Tick to go, unaware that Janet has written the phone number down again and dared Tick to fight Terror.
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Janet is surprised that Tick called Terror. Batmanuel would rather be reimbursed for the cake, and Arthur hands him $10.
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At his manor of evil, an elderly Terror is watching a stripper and tries to work out what year it is. Terror’s phone rings and when he answers it, Tick warns that he and Arthur are going to put an end to Terror’s reign of terror. Terror complains that he’s 112 years old, but takes offense when Tick mocks him. He rouses himself and promises to take vengeance. Arthur comes out of the shower and realizes that Tick is on the phone with Terror. Tick hangs up and says that they’ve got Terror on the ropes, but Arthur realizes that Terror can identify them from caller ID. Terror calls back and promises that he’s coming after them.
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Janet apologizes for being hormonal.
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Arthur faints and when he wakes up, makes plans to brush his teeth before he dies. Tick tells him that he needs to embrace life.
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Tick assures Arthur that his heart was made up, even if his mind wasn’t.
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Terror breaks in and tosses a skull grenade. Arthur screams in terror and Terror staggers in, saying that they’ve been paralyzed by his Terror Gas. Tick points out that they’re not paralyzed, and Terror realizes that he used the wrong skull. The villain removes his mask and Tick points out that he’s gotten extra old,Terror has a heart attack and collapses, still swearing vengeance, and Tick admits that it’s disappointing.
Tick and Arthur take Terror to the hospital. Arthur says that all they did was crank-call an old man and give him a heart attack. Tick doesn’t believe that Terror is down for the count, and goes off after Arthur. Meanwhile, Terror wakes up when he flatlines and restarts his own heart. He finally jabs himself with adrenaline and comes back to life, laughing in triumph.
Janet and Batmanuel enter the hospital to check out on Tick and Terror at the hospital.
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Batmanuel complains that he had to take the subway, and someone mugged him. However, he first faced Terror.
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As Batmanuel gets coffee from the vending machine, Terror gasses him unconscious, puts him on a gurney, and wheels him away.
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Arthur says that he needed some time to sort out his thoughts. He wandered into the superhero recovery ward and saw his friend Metcalf... and realized what had stopped him from committing to being a superhero. Arthur admits that he was still scared.
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Metcalf tells Arthur that he’ll get used to being almost killed. Terror wheels Batmanuel in as Metcalf tells Arthur that he’s been called to become a superhero. Meanwhile, Batmanuel wakes up and discovers that there’s a deadly scorpion on his chest. Terror unplugs Metcalf’s pooping machine and runs off, and Arthur plugs it in just in time.
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That was the first time that Arthur stood up to evil.
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Arthur confronts Terror, who throws blood bags at him and then attacks the new hero. Tick hears them and runs in, and throws Terror across the room. He helps Arthur up and congratulates him on fighting the terror both internally and externally. Arthur admits that it feels good, and Tick removes the scorpion from Batmanuel.
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Arthur offers a toast to Tick, who asks when Arthur made the leap of faith. His friend says that tick was right and they beat the worst superhuman in human history, even though it was after his prime. It was then that he realized that they were destined to be a duo. Tick asks him to repeat it because he wasn’t listening.
Written by Gadfly on Aug 21, 2016